Snowboard Life’s Top 25 Board Test 2000

Rear up on your hind legs and stride from the ambiguous fog of the board-buying dark ages. Renounce the marketing hype. Reject the fuzzy logic of basing your next big-money decision on which board has the coolest graphics.

With this in mind, we set out to find that truth, conducting our first-ever Snowboard Life Top 25 Snowboard Review. We waded through the hundreds of freeriding models available and determined which ones are worth your precious time and hard-earned money. Finding “The Board” was not our intention; no two snowboarders are exactly the same, and no single board will satisfy every rider’s needs. Instead, we aimed to simmer the pot down to the best 25 freeriding boards on the market.

Assembling an elite team of snowboarders-current pros, experienced instructors, outspoken editors, even a former world champion-we descended on Mammoth Mountain, California in late-April to put the snowboard maker’s 1999/2000 offerings through the paces for a week.

As soon as our crew of tire-kickers arrived, we swiftly placed them under a tighter sequester than the O.J. jury. Our goal was total objectivity, and in order for the test team to focus single-mindedly on the performance qualities of the snowboards, we eliminated as many variables as possible. Topsheets were masked with the most hideous wood-grain contact paper we could find, removing any brand or graphics biases. Testers were instructed not to discuss review boards. Incoming mail was carefully screened and phone calls were tapped to avoid test-team tampering. Even the weather facilitated total focus as a muted mist shrouded the surrounding views of the Sierras. There was nothing to distract the testers from the task at hand.

An appropriate circuit was established taking advantage of Mammoth’s big and varied terrain-perfect runs on which to test each board’s ability to handle whatever the mountain offered: steeps, bumps, crud, rock-drops, powder, groomers, you name it.

As our valiant binding techs mounted setup after setup-more than 350 change-outs in all-the piercing whine of their electric drills served as the soundtrack for our lofty proceedings. And as the Top 25 Snowboard Review unfolded and the scorecards piled up, certain boards rose to the top while others faded into obscurity.

The scores have been tallied and retallied, and what follows is our list of the best damn snowboards on the market. Go ahead and buy any of ’em-there’s not a dog in the bunch. But before you do, read what our editors had to say about each and every board. While they’re all great, some will suit you better than others. Whether you’re a woman or a man, a power rider seeking stiffness or a lighter rider leaning toward softer, narrower boards, there’s a board for you.

We’ve done the research so you don’t have to, so read on and find the board of your dreams. You deserve it.